site.btaPresident Iotova to Hold Talks with Alliance for Rights and Freedoms, MECh, Velichie on Caretaker PM

President Iliana Iotova will hold consultations with the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms, Morality, Unity, Honour (MECh), and Velichie as part of the procedure for appointing a caretaker prime minister, the head of State's Press Secretariat said.

On Wednesday, Iotova held talks with the Movement for Rights and Freedoms - New Beginning, BSP–United Left, and There Is Such a People. She said that snap parliamentary elections as soon as possible after Easter should be the goal. The first Sunday after this year's Easter is April 19.

At the end of January, Iotova met with all potential caretaker prime ministers. Five of them expressed readiness to take on the post: Bulgarian National Bank Deputy Governor Andrey Gurov, Deputy Ombudsman Maria Filipova, Bulgarian National Audit Office (BNAO) President Dimitar Glavchev, and BNAO Vice Presidents Margarita Nikolova and Silvia Kadreva.

Under the Constitution, following consultations with the parliamentary groups and upon a proposal from the candidate for caretaker prime minister, the President appoints a caretaker government and schedules elections within two months. The consultations come after the resignation of Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov’s Cabinet, tendered at the end of last year after mass protests.